ISLAM

Last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan

Muslims worldwide observe Al Quds Day:

Latheef Farook

Muslims worldwide observe last Friday of the Holy Month of Ramadhan as Al Quds ( Jerusalem) Day. Al-Quds is the Arabic name for the holy city of Jerusalem.

Thus from Djakarta in Indonesia Kula Lumpur in Malaysia to cities in India,Pakistan the entire Middle East, London and numerous cities in the United States Muslims and non Muslims alike stage protest marches highlighting the need to liberate Al Quds from the Israeli occupation. The two largest such marches comprising men, women, children and the aged from all communities without any race, language or any other barrier take place in London and Washington. They include Muslims, Christians, righteous Jews and all others.

These protest marches began 31 years ago when Imam Khomeini ,the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, suggested that the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadhan be observed as the Al Quds Day. He said on August 1979, “I invite Muslims all over the world to consecrate the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as ‘Quds Day’ and to proclaim the international solidarity of Muslims in support of the legitimate rights of the Muslims of Palestine.”

Thus the first such demonstration was held in Tehran before spreading to other cities all over the world. Over the years today the International Day of Al-Quds is an annual event opposing Israel’s control of Jerusalem, Al Quds.

In the United States a diverse group of protestors gathered last year on Embassy Row at the approximate midway point between the White House and the Israeli embassy.

As the noon-sun reached its zenith, Muslims and non Muslims, mothers and young children, students and grandparents approached the Circle wearing their khefayahs, and holding their flags or hand-made signs.

The event began with the group recitation of surah al-Fatihah, the most commonly recited prayer by Muslims, asking Allah to guide them to the path of those who please Allah, not those who incur His wrath and displeasure.

Introducing the theme of Al Quds Day the moderator said “the month of Ramadhan is a time of spiritual improvement for the individual as well as the community. Al Quds Day is another step in improving our connections with rest of the world-wide community and our connection to the Creator’s command to stand with the oppressed against the oppressors. Al Quds Day is an opportunity for participants to proclaim support for a Holy Land free from the oppression and injustice wrought by Zionism. It’s a day to reinvigorate our support for our brothers and sisters who are struggling to live in dignity”.

A group of orthodox rabbis representing Neturei Karta International had travelled from New York to join the rally. Neturei Karta is an orthodox Jewish group founded in Jerusalem in response - to and rejection - of Zionism at the turn of the 19th century. Rabbi Yisoroel Dovid Weiss, standing in front of Palestinian flags and signs that read ‘Gaza - Auschwitz’, began by establishing that from a Jewish perspective rooted in the Torah, the entire existence of Israel is illegal, and that the Zionist ideology that led to its creation is also the “root cause of every drop of blood in Palestine.”

Such startling words coming from a firmly Jewish presence based in New Jersey shatter the ‘anti-Semite’ rhetoric that is the innate response of many uneducated and often bigoted Israel-supporters. Rabbi Weiss stated that Jews were commanded by their Lord to live in peace and harmony with their neighbours, and that contrary to the Zionist dogma, were forbidden by their Lord to come out of their status of being exiled from the Holy Land as a people.

These demonstrations and protest marches, seeking peace through justice and expressing solidarity with Palestinians living under military occupation by, or as second-class citizens in, Israel extend beyond Palestinians to support all oppressed people in their struggles around the world. Thus the Al-Quds Day is an opportunity to stand in solidarity with the oppressed in their struggles all over the world, from Palestine to Iraq, from Congo to Honduras, and from China to right here in the American backyards.

These speakers pointed out that “for nearly one month, we have thanked Allah as we prepare to break our fasts at night with the provisions He provides us daily, still remembering the difficulty that others face, others who do not have the chance to ‘end’ their fast and continue in hunger and thirst after sunset. Is it enough to thank our Creator for the comforts He has given us, while we remain fully aware of the stark contrast between our own living conditions and those fortunate ones?

They could be Muslim or not - in a developing country or in the slums of our own inner cities - in ravaged Gaza or Washington, DC.

It makes little difference. Our Creator wishes for us to constantly reach out to our brothers and sisters, treat them as ourselves and spend in the way of Allah of our time and efforts.

Islam and Jerusalem

Masjid Al Aqsa, the first qibla of the Muslims, second oldest masjid after Makkah and the third most important holy place in Islam after Makka and Madina is located in the city of Jerusalem known to Muslims worldwide as Al Quds or Baitul Muqaddis (The House of Holiness).

The historical significance of the Masjid Al-Aqsa in Islam lies in the fact that the early Muslims turned towards it in prayer for a period of around seventeen months after the hijra or migration to Medina in 624 AC. Thus it became the qibla (direction) that Muslims faced for prayer. According to Allame Tabatabayee, Allah prepared Muslims for the change of the qibla, first by revealing the story of Ibrahim and his son Ishmael, and their prayers for Makkah, their construction of the House of Allah (Ka’aba) and the order to cleanse it of idols for the worship of the One True God-Allah. Then Quranic verses were revealed which ordered Muslims to turn towards Masjid al-Haram, the Holy Mosque in Makkah in their prayers.[Qur’an 2:142–151]

Iftar at Masjid Al Aqsa

Masjid Al Aqsa is the place where Prophet Ibrahim, the patriarch of all the three great monotheistic faiths Judaism, Christianity and Islam prayed. It was in this very same Masjid that Allah resurrected and assembled all the prophets and messengers for Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to lead the prayer with them during his divine night journey to the heavens.

Allah chose the Masjid of Jerusalem for this greatest prayer, for the first time in history, because of its purity, nobility, distinction and highest standing.

The ascension of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), from the rock beneath the Qubbat Al Sakhra Mosque known as Dome of the Rock to heaven remains the loftiest spiritual event in the history of Islam and highlights the importance of Jerusalem for Muslims.

The direct ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) from Makkah to heaven would have been possible for Allah, but He wanted it to take place from Jerusalem.

That miraculous journey drew attention of Muslims to the specificity of Jerusalem and its extraordinary divine claim.

However, despite all this religious significance of Jerusalem for Muslims, the Zionist Jews who occupied East Jerusalem in their war of aggression in June 1967 have been repeatedly conspiring to destroy Masjid Al Aqsa and build in its place a new Solomon’s Temple, the older temple having been destroyed by the Romans in 70 AC, the remnants of which are only seen today as a wall known to Jews as the Wailing Wall.

As part of this conspiracy they commenced a ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing the Palestinians who had been living there for generations.

A divine call

M.B.M. Mahir

Laylatul-Qadr is the most blessed night. A person who misses it has indeed missed a great amount of good. If a believing person is keen to obey Allah and

increase the good deeds in his record, he should strive to encounter this night and to pass it in worship and obedience. If this is facilitated for him, all of his previous sins will be forgiven.

In the wee hours of dawn, when peace and tranquility prevail, humanity received a Divine Call commanding to read and seek knowledge, read and get guidance through intensive thinking and insight into intellectual path.

This call remains forever inviting mankind to ponder, to consider, and to concentrate on the Divine Message received through a span of Prophet-Hood of the glorious life of the most illustrious Prophet of Islam. Muhammad, on whom be Peace, the unlettered and illiterate Apostle of Almighty Allah, educated and enlightened from the University of Nature.

Lailathul Qadr, the night of power is identified in the month of Ramadan as the night in which humanity received the beginning of a continuous revelation from Almighty to Humanity. The Holy Quran speaks of this night and a separate chapter called Surathul Qadr is embodied in the Quran itself. It says “ we have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power. And what will explain to thee what the Night of Power is? The night of Power is better than A Thousand Months. Therein come down the angels and the Spirit By Allah’s permission, on every errand: Peace! This until the rise of Morn”.

Imam Ghazzali has given a unique interpretation of identifying the Lailathul Qadr night on the day of the birth of Ramadan basing the traditional Hadith of the Prophet wherein the Apostle of Islam said to Hazarath Ayesha his beloved wife when she questioned as to how to identify the Lailathul Qadr.

“Search for the Lailathul Qadr in the odd days of the last ten days of Ramadan, and if you find recite ‘ Oh Lord you are the forgiver, You love forgiving, Forgive me from all my sins’. Even though the Prophet was informed of the exact day of the Lailathul Qadr, he anxiously came out to inform the Sahabas,companions, and found two of them arguing on a matter and that disturbed him and he forgot to reveal the exact day of Lailathul Qadr. He further said, “ One who is steadfast in his virtuous prayer with purity and continuity he’ll be forgiven of all previous sins.

Imam Mujahid and Imam Dharani convey that the supreme night of power is the one which Allah accepts willfully and that which the followers accept willingly so much for the night of power.

The context of the Message contained in the ‘divine call’ continued for a period of twenty three years and concluded in the name and style of Al Quran. The Holy Quran has thrown an open challenge to humanity when it says “Don’t you ponder”? Don’t you ever think and do you ever consider the Power that creates, the lives that have been created, the wherewithal of their existence and annihilation and unto where in they return are all objective subjects of the Quran on which thoughts are concentrated.

In an interesting reference, Hazarath Ayesha Rali Allahu Anha the beloved wife of the Prophet was asked as to “what was the life of the Prophet” and she replied, the Messenger of Allah was the personification of the Message of Allah (Al Quran).

The Holy Quran not only mentions to think and ponder but also shows sources that inspires the thought of people. It says “Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made...and at the sky, how it is raised high...and at the mountains, how they are fixed firm...and at the Earth how it is spread out? Therefore, do thou remind for thou art one to remind” (Chapter 88:17-21).

It is interesting to observe the comment of Allama Yusuf Ali the English translator of the Quran. He says “in case when neglect the Hereafter as of no account, they are asked to contemplate four things, which they can see in everyday life, and which are full of meaning, high design and the goodness of Allah to man”.

The first mentioned is the domesticated animal, which for Arab countries is par excellence, the Camel. What a wonderful structure has this ship of the desert? He can store water in his stomach for days.

He can live on dry and thorny desert shrubs. His limbs are adapted to his life. He can carry men and goods. His flesh can be eaten. Camel’s hair can be used in weaving and withal he is so gentle. Who can sing his praises enough?

The second thing they should consider is the noble blue wall high above them with the sun and moon, the stars and the planets and the other heavenly bodies.

This scene is full of beauty and magnificence, design and order, plainness and mystery and yet we receive our light and warmth from the sun. What would our physical lives be, without these influences that come from such enormous distance?

From everyday utility and affection in the Camel to the utility in grandeur in the Heavens above us, we had two instances touching our individual as well as social lives.

In the third instance in the mountains we come to the utility to human kind generally in the service the mountains perform in storing water in moderating climate and in various other ways which it is a business of physical geography to investigate and describe.

The fourth and the last instance given is that of the Earth as a whole the habitation of mankind in our present phase of life. The Earth is a globe, and yet how marvellously it seems to be spread out before us in plains, valleys, hills, deserts and seas. Can man, seeing these things fail to see a plan and purpose in his life, or fail to turn to the Great Creator before whom he will have to give an account after this life is done?

Without prejudice to the interpretation the thought of the Camel also signifies the importance of saving and collecting all virtuous and good acts in this world as a beacon of self attainment in the Hereafter - the thought of the sky propels human beings to exalt their lives and actions to that height in order to excel in the presence of the Lord; the thought of the mountain is to establish the strength of the foundation of Iman like the Mount in order to be steadfast as the Arabic proverb goes “The firm and rigidity of men can shatter the Mounts.”

The wide world enhances the essentials of the broadness of the heart of humanity in its approach towards the creations and enabling the heart to be the seat of the Creator (Arsh). Rightfully Allah Almighty refers to the Prophet as the Reminder who is entrusted with the mission of reminding this Universal Truth.

A ‘divine call’ or a message has basically and necessarily a constructive guidance that will lead humanity in the right path. Along with the divinely guided Messenger of Allah who is taught trained and transcended with revelation-Wahi. As Doctor Sir Mohamed Iqbal said “Do not look up the sky for the Wahi (revelation) is over and hence cast your attention on to the Earth in order to live an Islamic Life; be not like the group of Muslims who constructed a Mosque between the dusk and dawn and when the Azan (Prayer call) was announced for the Subhu prayer (early dawn) not a single individual was present to pray”.

The above statement depicts the state of affairs that existed amongst Muslims during this period.

The moral of this admonition is to live a practical and religious life in accordance with the teachings of Islam without endangering the ethics and tenets of the Quran and Sunnah.

It is imperative therefore at a time when the very existence of moral values and conducts are at stake, every effort made to establish, encourage and enlive the efforts of the Divine Call of Islam.